To weigh the negative effects of "primerese" against its supposedly improved readability, a study compared the reading of controlled basal stories with that of the same stories minimally rewritten into more natural language. Participants were 64 white, lower middle class first grade students selected from five classrooms (all with basal…

Based on the thesis that reading is not a passive process by which readers soak up words and information from the page, but an active process by which they predict, sample, and confirm or correct their hypotheses about the written text, this book is an introduction to the theories of the psycholinguistic nature of the reading process and reading…

This paper argues that literature-centered reading programs, based on the perspective that reading is the process of bringing meaning to print, are in the best interest of the language minority students in the nation's elementary schools. After a review of basal reading systems and language-centered reading programs, the paper describes the…

Intended for teachers and prospective teachers, the purpose of this book is to provide information about reading instruction from kindergarten through the elementary grades. Part 1 deals with "Background Information" and includes chapters on: (1) The Reading Process; (2) Silent or Oral Reading? and (3) Reading Instruction. Part 2 discusses…

This descriptive study investigates the variability in the curriculum pacing decisions of classroom teachers. The effects on the reading achievement and performance gains of first and second grade students in a compensatory education program program are examined. Data were collected from: (1) the Metropolitan Readiness Test results used to select…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effect of assisted reading as a teaching method for enhancing reading readiness in kindergarten children; (2) the structure of talk in primary grade…

Educational multimedia and hypermedia systems, which integrate computer-generated text and graphics with full-motion video and stereo sound, dominate much discussion about the future of computer use in education. This guide brings together the thoughts, ideas, and experience of elementary school students, classroom teachers, administrators,…

Based on the notion that children become literate by trying to read and write in a supportive atmosphere with interesting books, rather than being instructed in isolated language skills, this book offers teachers ideas for using children's literature and related activities as an alternative to basal readers to make learning language skills…

Reflecting diversified views, this National Reading Conference yearbook contains 45 articles in the field of literacy theory and research. Articles and their authors include: "The Myth of Teaching" (J. V. Hoffman); "Reading-Writing Connections: The Relations among Three Perspectives" (T. Shanahan and R. J. Tierney);…

Observational studies of elementary school classrooms have indicated that basal reading programs (BRPs) influence strongly both how children are taught to read and what they read. BRPs are developed by authors working in varying degrees of involvement with the editors of educational publishing companies. Classroom observation literature and…

A study investigated initial reading acquisition in English and an ethnic tongue in two New York schools (Holy Martyrs, Armenian and St. Spiridons, Greek) which are representative of an immigration-based biliteracy tradition. The population consisted of students who were mostly (at least 80%) native born, English dominant, and from bilingual…

Noting that some elementary school children may have difficulty learning to read using basal readers, this paper describes the successful implementation of the Big Books for Beginning Readers reading program in a California elementary school. The first section of the paper discusses the problems students were having with reading, including a lack…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 40 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of oral reading of literature by teachers on reading attitudes of fourth grade students; (2) two instructional programs for teaching first grade…

Judge Thomas Hull's October 1986 decision in the "Mozert et al. versus Hawkins County Public Schools" provoked concern from a number of educators who felt that the plaintiffs, several Fundamentalist parents, who were favored in the decision, were attempting to force their religious principles on non-Fundamentalists. Judge Hull's…